PTI seeks Finance Minister Ishaq Dar’s resignation

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Friday pressed for the resignation of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar in the wake of his indictment in a graft reference, ARY News reported.

The PTI wrote a letter to Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, submitting that it was shameful, the finance minister is still holding office after his indictment in the NAB reference with regard to assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.

The party cautioned that it would go to the Supreme Court, if the premier made any attempt to protect Dar and did not remove him from the post.

The supervision of the national exchequer should not be left to a person facing corruption charges, it said.

Earlier on Sept 27, an accountability court had indicted Finance Minister Ishaq Dar in the reference filed against him by the anti-graft watchdog for accumulating assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.

The finance minister had appeared before the court after it issued bailable warrants for his arrest. He had submitted a surety bond worth Rs one million to seek bail in the case.

According to the NAB reference, the accused had acquired assets and pecuniary interests/ resources in his name or in the name of his dependents of an approximate amount of Rs831.678 million as per the investigation conducted so far.

The assets are disproportionate to his known sources of income for which he could not reasonably account for.

Earlier on Sept 26, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif appeared before the accountability court in three graft references filed by NAB in connection with his family’s offshore properties.